The Monkey King

An early (1978) novel by the Hong Kong novelist Timothy Mo. It does not, as far as I can tell, have anything to do with the fabled "Monkey King" trickster-hero, who appears prominently on the cover, except by stretching it a very great deal: the hero of a novel undergoes adventures and has companions... Even taken allegorically I can't see it.

Mr Poon wants contacts in a government department so gets Wallace a job there, eventually, after letting him hang around deprived of dowry for some time. Here he meets the Major, who later turns out to be a supporter of Red China. The novel is set at the time of the Korean War. He also puts his name to a contract of great advantage to Mr Poon, who then tries to get rid of him on the basis of this incriminating evidence.

In the final part he is recalled to succeed the dying Mr Poon as head of his business empire, and is treated with more respect by the rest of the family. This ending seems too artifical and uninteresting for what has gone before.

Timothy Mo captures the feel of the place and people very well: his observations of the English dialect that the Cantonese people of Hong Kong speak is sustained and feels accurate.